Sun Tzu Quotes about War - Page 7

Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible.

The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.

When your weapons are dulled and ardour damped, your strength exhausted and treasure spent, neighboring rulers will take advantage of your distress to act. And even though you have wise counsellors, none will be able to lay good plans for the future. Thus, while we have heard of blundering swiftness in war, we have not yet seen a clever operation that was prolonged.

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you now Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete.

Quickness is the essence of the war.

Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.

The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance, from the converted spy. Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberality.

One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it.

Therefore a victorious army first wins and then seeks battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.

A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need to do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight... Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy... By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him.

If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

Those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.

When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.

One who has few must prepare against the enemy; one who has many makes the enemy prepare against him.

An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.

Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.

Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.